Production of iron and steel



C. S; BRADLEY.

PRODUCTION OF IRON AND STEEL. APPLICATION FILED ocr. 5.191s.

1,353,71 6. PatentedSept. 21,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE.

CHARLES S. BRADLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y

PRODUCTIONOF IRON AND STEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept; 21 1920 Applicationfiled October 5, 1916. Serial No. 123,878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S; BRADLEY, a

' citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theProduction of Iron and Steel, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the production of metals, such as for exampleiron and steel, from metal bearing substances.

The principles of the invention will be clearly understood from thedescription of a specific embodiment thereof for the production of ironfrom the ore.

' One of the important features of the invention is to roduce anon-coherent mixture of finely divided metal and gangue and to separatethe metal from the gangue without' resorting to the operation ofslagging the aluminous and silicacious material. Another importantfeature of the invention resides in the reduction of themetal content ofthe ore or other metal bearing substance to metallic form at atemperature below the fusion point of the metal.

apparatus for the separation of the finely divided metal from the ganguematerial. Apparatus suitable for carryin out the process isdiagrammatically shown in the accompanyinf drawing.

In.sa1d rawing: 2 Figure 1 represents a system for the treatment offinely crushed ore, comprising reduction and. separation apparatus, withone form of apparatus for consolidating the separated metal after itsremoval from the gangue; and

Fig.v 2 represents another embodiment of the, consolidating apparatus,wherein the finely divided material is made coherent by pressure.

.It is assumed in the example of the inven tion which will be described,that iron ore, for example in the form of 'oxid or carbonate, hasalreadybeen finely crushed and dried, before being subjected to thetreatg ments herein described.

Referring in detail to the annexed drawing, 10 indicates a reductiondrum towhich the finely crushed and dried iron ore is fedby wa of thehopper 11 and screw conve er 12. he drum 10 is mounted on suita lebearing rollers 13, one or more of which may be suitably driven toeffect a rotation of the drum. A series of longitudinal riflies or ribsA further feature of importance is an improved process and 14 raise thecrushed ore which repeatedly falls from the top of the drum through aheated reducing gas which is maintainedwithin the drum, as will bedescribed. A spiral discharge 15 conveys the reduced mixture in finelydivided non-coherent form to the discharge neck 16 from which it isdelivered by the chute 17 to a conveyor belt 18. The reduced ore on itsway to the con.

- veyer belt' 18 is subjected to the influence of a magnet 19 of metalconstruction, which attracts the finely divided metal particles andmagnetically conveys them to a point above the metal discharge hopper20. The gangue from which the metal has'thus been removed is deliveredby the conveyor belt 18 to a gangue hopper 21 from which it isdischarged in any suitable manner as for example by the screw conveyer22. The metal hopper 20 has its discharge neck submerged within the bodyof molten metal maintained within the crucible 23 which is suitablyheated,,as for example by means of the gas flame The electro-magnet 19forms a roof over the separating chamber and comprises a suitably formedbody of iron or the like having perforations 25 for the reception ofwater cooling pipes 26 through which 'the magnet coils or windings areled for producing the magnetic flux employed in the separation of thefinely divided metal from the gangue. The magnet windings are suppliedwith multiphase" alternating current and suitably connected to produce aprogressive magnetic pole or series of poles which advance from lefttoright in the drawing. I have illustrated the connections theseparationchamber, the current of the air and gas being from right toleft in the drawing, resulting in the production of a flame inthedischarge 'end ofdrum 10 whereby the reducing temperature ismaintained. The reducing gas supplied through pipe 28 will represent inproportion to the air delivered through pipe 27, that quantity whichwill not only maintain the reducmetal content of the ore. In the case ofore containing ferr c oxid Fe O being reduced to metallic iron by theaction of'natural gas,

CH the temperature would be'maintainedat a low red heat and the chemicalreaction might be represented by the equations An excess of gas isnecessary on account of the equilibrium constants of the products ofreaction. The products of combustion and reduction gas are dischargedfrom the drum 10 into the flue 29.

I have shown in Fig. 1, a metal consoli dating apparatus iWhlQh operateson the principle of fusion. In Fig. 2 the consoli dating apparatuscomprises an extrusion or squirting nozzle or die which receives thefinely divided metalfrom the metal hopper 20 and in which the finelydivided metal is subjected to compression by the hydraulic plunger 31under suitable control. A spring 32 returns the plunger to normalposition within its; cylinder 33 and the hydraulic fluid, is admitted byway of the port 34: to reciprocate the plunger in the compressin orconsolidating operation. With eac stroke of the plunger, a correspondingdischarge of consolidated metal occurs from the outlet of the die 30,which product may be severed into unit lengths in any suitable manner.

I Tnthe embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the fused metal accumulates in thecrucible and its level rises to the point of contact with the contactpoints 35 of a signal system 36, whereupon a displacing plunger 37 ofinert material of high fusion point, may be lowered into the moltenmetal to cause the overflow of a measured quantity of the metal for theproduction of pigs.

It will be apparent from the above example of the invention that theprinciples are applicable to those metals which can be reduced below thefusion point and subjected to a separation step either magneticallyperformed as in the present example, or 1nsome other manner which doesnot require slaggmg of the aluminous or silicaceous materials. It isalso apparent that the features of the magnetic separator hereinshown,-are

applicable to the ores of magnetic 'metals such as iron, nickel, cobalt,etc., which can be reduced below the fusionpoint or which may beotherwise obtained in the-form of a non-coherent mixture of finelydividedmetal and gangue.

In place of natural gas or any gaseous reducing a cut, I may employ asolid or other suita le reducing. agent, as for example coal, whlch maylee-introduced with the finely crushed ore into the reduction peraturedrum. The subsequent separation step lends itself to the avoidance ofthe reducing agent in the purified product, as the ash would beeliminated as well as the gangue. v V

For the manufactureof steel and alloys of iron, suitable addition agentsmay be introduced into the pure iron crucible or the extrusionapparatus.

ll claim 1. The method of obtaining values from ores which are reduciblebelow fusion temperature, which comprises reducing the values in finelydivided ore by the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon gas with adeficiency of air in the presence of the ore to be reduced, andseparating the reduced values in finely divided solid form from thecommingled gangue.

2. The method of obtaining values from ores, which are reducible belowfusion temperature, which comprises reducing the values in finelydivided ore, without fusion, by the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbongas with a deficiency of air in the presence of the ore to be reduced,separating the reduced finely divided values from the gan e in theatmosphere of the incoming h rocarbon gas 'prior to commingling o thelatter with the deficiency of alr for combustion, and consolidating theseparated values.

3. The method of obtaining values from ores, which are reducible belowfusion temperature, which comprises reducing the values in finelydivided ore, without fusion, by the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon gas with a deficiency of air in the presence of the ore to bereduced, separating the reduced finely divided values from the gangue inthe atmosphere of the incoming hydrocarbon gas prior to commingling ofthe latter with the deficiency of air for combustion, and fusing theseparated values. a

4:. The method of obtaining values from ore,. ,which comprises reducingthe values in finely divided ore to metallic state at a-tembelow thefusion point of the values,-separating the values from the commingledgangue while still maintaining the temperature below the fusion point,subsequently fusing the values into a coherent product, and displacing apredetermined amount ofthe fused metal from time to time to cause themeasured overflow of a unit product.

5. The method of obtainin values from ore, which comprises subjectingthe finely divided ore at low red heat. to a reducing gas to obtain acommingled mass of finely divided non-coherent metal and gangue,separating the metal in finely divided solid form from thegangue,thereafter fusing the metal to obtain a coherent product, and dieplacinga predetermined amount of the fused metal from time to time to cause themeasured overflow of a unit product.

6. The method of obtaining values from ore of magnetic metal, whichcomprises reducing the values in the finely divided ore to non-coherentmetallic state, exposing the resultant mixture of finely dividedmaterials to a magnetic flux for the separation of the metal from thegangue then fusing the metal to obtain a product in coherent form, anddisplacing a predetermined amount of the fused metal from time to timeto cause the measured overflow of a unit product.

7. The method of obtaining values from ore of magnetic metal, whichcomprises subjecting the finely divided ore to the action of a reducinggas at a temperature below the fusion point of the metal, whereby afinely divided non-coherent mixture of gangue, andmetal is obtained,magnetically separating the metal from the gangue, then fusing the metalto obtain a product in coherent form, and displacing a predeterminedamount of the fused metal from time a unit product.

CHARLES s. BRADLEY.

